


The Season of Scars and Wounds

by zarabithia



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Christmas, Domesticity, Fix-It, M/M, Post-Invasion, Request Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 00:56:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Forgiving Kaldur isn't even difficult.  Forgiving other people? Roy's not so sure about that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Season of Scars and Wounds

**Author's Note:**

> countlessuntruths asked for _Kaldur/Roy “It’s the season of scars and of wounds in the heart/ of feeling the full weight of our burdens/It’s the season of bowing our heads in the wind/And knowing we are not alone in fear/Not alone in the dark”_ for the holiday lyrics meme. 
> 
> Also, Roy is pretty angry in this fic, but his thoughts on his teammates do not reflect mine.

In truth, Lian is not yet old enough to truly appreciate a Christmas tree. 

She may be old enough to rip the low hanging ornaments off the tree, though. Roy suspects, though he has no true evidence, that Arsenal has providing her with his own special brand encouragement. 

"She wants a puppy," Roy grumbles under his breath to his partner. "With _him_ in the house, who needs a puppy?" 

It's said lowly enough that only the three people in the kitchen can hear him, not the bad influence sitting on his couch. Even with his current foul mood, Roy is not willing to be so blatantly cruel to someone whose had such a bad year. Not someone who Roy owes his entire existence to.

It's pretty tempting, though. 

"You're right, Lian," Kaldur, who is always more patient and kind than Roy is, says as he kneels down to take the ornament from Roy's daughter. "It really is lovely. That's why we're going to go put it back on the tree." 

"Put pwetty on twee?" Lian asks. She looks down at the ornament in her hand before hesitantly placing it into Kaldur's outstretched hands. 

"Yes," is Kaldur's response before he scoops her up into his arms and carries her back into the living room.

Roy remains in the kitchen, because _this Christmas_ is going to be as good as it deserves to be. This is the first Christmas that he's had Kaldur _back_ and he is not going to waste that. 

He's also not going to burn the rolls. 

He's in the middle of buttering the rolls in question when Kaldur comes back into the kitchen. 

"She put the ornament back on the tree by herself," Kaldur tells him, and he has only known Lian for a few months, but there is warmth and affection there that even Roy himself could not match. It makes him want to call up all the soon to be invaders and warn them to stay the fuck away, because Lian already _has_ all the family she needs right here. 

(Except for her mother, but for Roy's sanity, he is not going to think about what kind of mission Jade is on right now.) 

"She's a smart kid. Takes after her mother," Roy answers. "Check on the salmon and see if it's done, please?" 

Kaldur slips on the gaudy bright red pot holders that Artemis had given Roy as a moving in present, and opens the oven door. Roy dumps the rolls into the bread basket and steps off to the side so that Kaldur has more room to access to the oven. 

"It has been some time since I celebrated this holiday, but I do believe that it is traditional to serve fowl instead of fish," Kaldur remarks. "I assume this is a symbolic gesture?" 

"If Ollie wants a turkey so damn bad he can buy his own," Roy says, far more peevishly than he intended.

Kaldur notices. Of course he does. 

"It's understandable that Oliver and Wally still have difficulty accepting the terms of my mission to infiltrate the Light." Kaldur is slicing the salmon now, in calm, silent strokes.

Roy slams plastic cups hard enough onto the counter that the bottom one cracks. Lian is in the next room, with a person who has had a far shittier year than Roy has, so his words are no louder than an angry whisper. "Bullshit, Kaldur. You did what you had to do; Artemis was _fine_. The only person who got hurt was you - " 

"And M'gann," Kaldur says, insistently and quietly enough that even Roy won't argue that point. 

He wants to, though, because that's Kaldur's _leader_ voice, and it sounds so exactly perfect that how could any of them have been so fucking stupid as to have believed that this man would ever turn on them? 

How could _Roy_ have thought that? For even a moment? 

"And if they want to bitch, then maybe they should have volunteered themselves. Or done something otherwise to be remotely useful against The Light." 

Kaldur is too nice to point out that Roy is talking about himself as much as anyone else. Instead, he arranges the salmon onto a serving tray and says, "Wally still harbors a grudge over being separated from his loved one. Oliver is upset at having not been made aware of the truth of the mission. These are understandable reasons to hold a grudge." 

" _Jade_ had similar reasons and she got over them." Which is why their daughter is playing in the living room with a former junkie version of Roy right now, while the man who had been accused of killing Lian's aunt is calmly mashing the potatoes. 

"Yet you have not." 

"What are talking about? I don't hold anything against you that happened." 

"No, but you do continue to hold Dick responsible." 

"It's his fault!" 

It was _Dick's_ fault for putting Kaldur in that position, his fault for not telling Roy, his fault for not telling anyone on the team, his fault for what M'gann had done with only good intentions ...

It was his fault for not breaking down until the night he'd called Roy to tell him that Kaldur's mind was broken. 

"No. I was still leader when the call was made. If you're going to blame anyone, then Oliver and Wally are correct in believing that the blame should lie with me." 

"Fine. So I'm angry at Dick. Is that so irrational? If you can understand why Ollie and Wally are pissed, why can't you understand why I am?" 

"I do understand, Roy. I just don't think it's fair to hold your family to a higher standard than you are holding yourself," Kaldur answered. 

"Look, I know you want us all to get along - " 

"I do. Because I went without my family for a long time. I would like to begin the process of reclaiming them." It would sound far harsher on anyone else's lips, but Kaldur says it as gently as he asks the next question, "These potatoes are done. Does the tradition of stuffing go only with the turkey or does it accompany the fish as well?"" 

Kaldur doesn't say "the ones who still want me," but he doesn't have to. Roy knows that there are others, far more stubborn than Ollie and Wally, who haven't forgiven Kaldur for the deceit and perceived betrayal.

He knows there are some who _won't._

But Roy does and Dick does. 

Roy doesn't want to forgive Dick. Not anytime soon. But if it means that much to Kaldur, maybe he doesn't have any choice. 

"It's dressing when it's not in the bird. You can make it. I'll ..." Roy grits his teeth and listens for a moment to Lian and Arsenal singing off-key Christmas carols in the living room. _Family._ "I'll go call Dick."


End file.
